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Genesis 12 · a question people ask

Did Abram lie about Sarai? And why isn't he punished?

Interpretation

Abram asks Sarai to say she is his sister (12:13). Later Abraham says she really is his half-sister: "the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother" (20:12). The text doesn't state a verdict on Abram. It reports that the LORD strikes Pharaoh's house "because of Sarai" (12:17) and that Pharaoh rebukes Abram (12:18-19). Protestants read it two ways.

How Christians read it

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A failure of faith

Abram, expecting to be killed (12:12), used a half-truth to deceive, and Sarai was taken into Pharaoh's house (12:15). The outsider, Pharaoh, is the one who speaks the rebuke: "What is this that you have done to me?" (12:18). God protects Sarai in spite of Abram (12:17).

Genesis 12:12-15 · Genesis 12:17-19

A half-truth under threat

Abraham later says Sarai was his half-sister, and that they had agreed to say this wherever they went (20:12-13), so his words were true as far as they went, spoken to save his life among strangers (12:12). The text records the danger and God's protection without saying more about Abram's choice.

Genesis 12:12 · Genesis 20:12-13

The verses

“Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
Genesis 20:12 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 12

Genesis 12: All the families of the earth

Before Genesis 12, Genesis says "cursed" five times; in God's first words to Abram it says "bless" or "blessing" five times, ending with all the families of the earth. Peter says God sent Jesus to bring that blessing.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions